Rookie cornerback Jaylen Hill will miss the rest of the 2017 NFL season after tearing his ACL and MCL against the Indianapolis Colts last week.
Just when you thought the Baltimore Ravens escaped victory without any injuries, bad news has struck. Head coach John Harbaugh announced during his press conference today that rookie cornerback Jaylen Hill tore his ACL and MCL during the team’s 23-16 win over the Colts last Saturday night.
Hill injured his knee during the second half of the game and was carted off the field. The bad news has been confirmed and he’ll miss the remainder of the season. His status heading into next year is very much up in the air.
Harbaugh said his only concern about game being moved to 4:25 is the fans. "Let's go win the football game."
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 26, 2017
Hill went undrafted out of Jacksonville State but made his mark during the preseason and rightfully earned a spot on the 53-man roster. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury limited him to just six games before going down on Saturday. Hill shined sparingly during the regular season but was a candidate to earn more time at slot corner going forward. Now that’s put on hold and he’ll be the fourth member of the Ravens’ secondary placed on injured reserve this season. (Tavon Young, Jimmy Smith, and Brandon Boykin).
If you wonder why Ozzie Newsome spent so much of the offseason beefing up the secondary, this is the exact reason. The Ravens were thin at cornerback down the stretch last season because of injuries and it’s been a weak point for the defense in recent years. Think about how much worse things would have been without signing Brandon Carr, bringing back Lardarius Webb and drafting Marlon Humphrey this season. I don’t think the Ravens are in the same position heading into Week 17 if Ozzie doesn’t make those moves over the offseason.
With Carr and Humphrey on the outside, second-year cornerback Maurice Canady becomes that more important. He’s returned from injured reserve and been impressive in seven games, including making the game-winning pass breakup against T.Y. Hilton on Saturday. Expect him to see a significant amount of playing time this week and heading into the playoffs if the Ravens clinch a wild-card berth.
Next: Ravens stave off Colts comeback: The good, bad and the ugly
We here at Ebony Bird wish Jaylen a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. Hopefully he can return as soon as possible next year.